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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26178019">Soccer Maniac</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hkl_129/pseuds/hkl_129'>hkl_129</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Criminal Minds (US TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Complete, Family Fluff, Football | Soccer, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:28:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,650</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26178019</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hkl_129/pseuds/hkl_129</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Now that Jack has moved up to a competitive age group in soccer, Hotch and Rossi is at a lost of how to turn the newest losing streak around. The only person capable of helping them is their own resident soccer genius. Problem is, they are scared she might be too competitive about the whole thing.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aaron Hotchner/Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/David Rossi, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau &amp; Henry LaMontagne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A few years has passed since Hotch started coaching Jack’s soccer team, and Jack has moved up from the non-competitive group to a competitive age group. And even though Hotch has Rossi as an assistant with his Italian knowledge about formations, they are now faced with 3 consecutive loss in start of the season, so it is time to ask their resident soccer expert on the team for help.</p><p>The two of them has agreed to ask her on the jet during the way back from their most recent case. And so, here they are, two of the most experienced FBI agents anxiously approached the petite blonde woman. Both men argued with their eyes from their standing positions above where JJ sat, telling one another to be the one to ask her, until...</p><p>“You boys need something?” She asked as she continued to read the case file in her hands.</p><p>“Ummm...” Hotch hesitated, and was interrupted by Rossi.</p><p>“Aaron here, have something to ask you about.” Rossi said as Hotch shot a glare at him.</p><p>“Ask away.” Closing the file in front of her, she turned to look up at them.</p><p>“Well, you know how Jack has been on a soccer team for a while now,” Hotch started, but was once again interrupted.</p><p>“Wait a second. No, I didn’t know that, nobody told me anything about Jack being involved in soccer.” She glared at both of them.</p><p>Both men paled, realising that if they don’t provide a valid reason for telling her, they would have to endure her wrath. And suddenly, a hush fell onto the jet, everybody knows how passionate JJ is about soccer, since she did play it when she was younger and is highly competitive about it, they didn’t tell her for that exact reason. She would be way to competitive about it, and since Jack’s age group didn’t have scores, he didn’t want JJ to be overly competitive over that.</p><p>“Well... I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, maybe it slipped my mind?” Hoping against all odds, that he can lie to her this one time.</p><p>“If you are going to lie to me, Hotch, you have to come up with something better than that.” She crossed her arms and continued to stare at the two men before her. “Well?”</p><p>After seeing Hotch not knowing how to respond, Rossi came to his rescue,“Okay, we might’ve thought that is was better to not tell you, but that was only because Jack’s age group is non-competitive. I mean, they don’t even keep scores!”</p><p>“Alright, I’m going to let you two off the hook this time. But rest-assured, we are not done!” She gave them one last glare, before remembered that Hotch was supposed to ask her about something, “Wait, what did you want to ask me about?”</p><p>“Well, Jack has moved up to a competitive age group recently, and our team has been losing for 3 games in a row. So we thought you might be able to give us some pointers?” Hotch asked, but from the gleam in JJ’s eyes, he was starting to wonder if he should regret asking her in the first place.</p><p>“Of course I would! When is the next game?” She immediately asked, already plotting in her mind.</p><p>“Ummm, not for another 3 weeks or so?” Rossi informed her unsurely.</p><p>“Okay...” she dragged out, “Not as much time as I had hoped, but I have worked with far less.” then she shooed the two men away, took out a notebook from her go bag, and started with her plan.</p><p>No one dared to approach them for the rest of the flight as she scribbled fiercely onto her notebook, occasionally demanding details of Jack’s soccer team from Hotch and Rossi.</p><hr/><p>That following Saturday, Hotch was still fast sleep when he heard the door bell ring. Dragging himself to the door, and looking through the peephole, he saw someone he didn’t expect. <em>What the hell is JJ doing here?</em></p><p>“Hotch, let’s get moving! Or else we are going to loose time for practice!” JJ pushed her way inside the apartment, with an already hyperactive Henry following behind her. She looked around the apartment and back to Hotch, “How come you and Jack are not ready yet?”</p><p>He blinked at her, as he remembered that he and Rossi asked JJ to help with Jack’s soccer team. Thinking that he might have overslept, he glanced at the clock in the living room, <em>6:00am, seriously?</em> “Umm JJ, do you know what time is it?”</p><p>“6 o’ clock, now come on, we are going to loose practice time!” She waved her hand as if it’s the end of the world.</p><p>“JJ, practice isn’t until 8:30, and the field is literally 5 minutes away.” He brain is still waking up, while he try to make sense as to why JJ would arrive at his house more than 2 hours earlier than the practice session.</p><p>“I know! But we need to go over drills and strategy!” JJ exclaimed, Henry clapping his hands excitedly beside her.</p><p>“But JJ, we don’t need 2 and a half hours to do that...” Hotch tried to explain to the overexcited pair.</p><p>“We do, now come on, get Jack ready or I will!” she started at Hotch.</p><p>“Fine, you can wake him up, I need to get ready anyways.” Hotch relented.</p><p>JJ almost skipped towards Jack’s room, she has been there a couple of times when Henry and Jack had a playdate, so she already know the way. Henry already running ahead of her, yelling “Jack!!! Wake up, wake up, wake up!” As he bounded into Jack’s room, and starting attacking the older boy.</p><p>“Wa..wh..what…Henry?” Slowly coming out of his sleep, Jack looks super confused at seeing the younger boy beside his bed, “What are you doing here?”</p><p>“Mommy says soccer!” Henry exclaimed excitedly, almost dragging Jack out of his bed.</p><p>Jack looked behind Henry to see his Aunt JJ, who has matching enthusiastic expressions that Henry, looking like she wanted nothing more than to step in and hurry Jack up herself. “Hi Aunt JJ, what are you doing here?”</p><p>“Your dad and Rossi asked me to help coach your soccer team, so we’re here! Now get up, we have to head to the field!” Now JJ cannot restrain herself any longer, stepping inside the room and picking the boy up from his bed.</p><p>“Okay, I’m up. I’m just going to change into my soccer uniform.”</p><p>Feeling satisfied, JJ took Henry’s hand and left Jack’s room to give him some privacy to change, and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast while they wait for both Hotchners. Waiting on the couch, she dialled Rossi’s number told him to wake up and head to the field, not giving him any chance to protest before she hung up. She grabbed a few things from the fridge and made a few sandwiches for the Hotchners to eat on the way instead of having to wait for them any longer in the house.</p><p>A few moments later, both Hotchners, still looking a bit asleep, wondered into the kitchen, where JJ was just finishing their breakfast. But before either of them can grab the food from her hands, she strides out the door and into her car, holding the food in the air as bait for the boys, which worked perfectly as all three boys followed her into the car obediently.</p><p>Only when the 4 of them are settled in the car and they are driving towards the field did JJ allow them to each get their breakfast. As they neared the field, it is obvious how early it actually is, the field is empty. Absolutely no one. Hotch is secretly glad that no one is there, because now JJ has to admit how crazy she is about this whole being early thing.</p><p>But JJ was not fazed in the slightest, she parked the car in the carpark, and went to the trunk to get her supplies. Only then did Hotch find out just how serious JJ is taking this coaching thing. Now he is actually a bit scared of what is to come.</p><hr/><p>After making multiple phone calls to Rossi, which resulted in JJ almost screaming into the phone to get him to hurry the hell up to the field, Rossi exited his car with a <em>very</em> annoyed look on his face. Now, normally, people would instantly be afraid when he had this look on him, but compared to the one on JJ’s face, he is simply no match.</p><p>JJ had stormed to the carpark as soon as she heard Rossi’s vehicle approaching, and when he exited his car, the first thing he heard is JJ’s voice telling him off for being this <em>late.</em> Rossi looked to Hotch for assistance, maybe his clocks weren’t working or something, but when he noticed that Hotch was looking just as sleepy, he immediately know that he wasn’t <em>late </em>in <em>normal standards</em>, but rather <em>late</em> in <em>JJ’s standards</em>.</p><p>When all of them reached the field where JJ and Hotch had placed the huge pile of supplies and notes on the side, JJ started going off on the strategies she has developed over the time in between the conversation on the jet and now. Looking at the pile of notes, Hotch and Rossi shared a glance, <em>this is worse than they ever imagined.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As the other children in Jack’s soccer team started to arrive, they sent curious glances towards the JJ, but no one bothered them as JJ was talking passionately to their two coaches. Jack has been playing with Henry, who surprisingly can keep up with the older boy, so when the other kids on the team arrived, Jack introduced Henry and they played together until the adults called them to gather.</p><p>When the kids are finally seated in front of the three adults, Hotch started, “Hello everyone, hope you all are ready for a fun day?” Hearing various calls of ‘yes’ and ‘yea’, he continued, “We have a very special someone who will be joining us for the next few weeks to help us until the next game, this is Jennifer, you can all call her JJ.”</p><p>“Hi JJ!” The kids chorused.</p><p>“Now I see you guys have met Henry, he is JJ’s son and he will be here with us today, but he is still a little young to join the team yet.” Rossi commented, and Henry walked back to beside his mother, “Now why don’t we get started?”</p><p>The kids got up excitedly and looked at Hotch and Rossi for instructions about what they are doing today, but it was JJ who spoke, “Now kids, we are going to do something a little different today, we will start off with an obstacle course. Does anyone know what that is?” Seeing multiple shakes of their heads, JJ continued, “It is a combination of different sections where you have to go through, climb or crawl or run through, to get to the finish line.” Still being met by confused looks, JJ suggested, “How about we do a little demonstration?”</p><p>She lead the small group towards the area where all three of them has set up the obstacle course earlier, one hand holding Henry’s and another holding a clipboard. When all of them gathered at the start line, she carefully described how to complete each obstacle, and then slowly showed how to do it. After repeating a couple of times, the children finally started to understand but were still looking unsure, JJ turned to her son, who stood beside Hotch and Rossi when she explained the course to the kids, “Henry baby, can you do a full demonstration for me, please?”</p><p>Henry nodded his little head vigorously and ran to the starting line. Looking to his mom at the finish line, he got ready, while JJ said, “Ready? 3, 2, 1, go!” The group watched as Henry moved through the obstacle course, completing each section with ease, and ran through the finish line, straight into his mother’s arms. “Well done!” JJ said as she hugged her son quickly, then turned to the other kids in the group, “You guys have a better idea about how this works now?” Seeing the kids nod their heads, understanding dawning on their faces. “Alright! Line up and let’s get started, shall we?”</p><p>As the children lined up excitedly behind Hotch and Rossi, JJ gave Henry one more hug and stood by the finish line. Coordinating with Hotch at the starting line, the group spent the next 30 minutes letting everybody have their turn, JJ recording their speed and took notes as a plan for deciding which position each child could play to ensure better results.</p><p>After everybody went through the obstacle course at least 2 times, Hotch called out, “Okay everyone, Let’s take a rest. Go and take a drink from your water bottle!” When the kids started back towards the sidelines where they stored their water bottles, he and Rossi approached JJ.</p><p>“So the kids seems to be having fun, how did Henry know about the obstacle course?” Rossi mentioned as they met up with JJ by the finishing line.</p><p>“Did you really think my own son would know nothing about soccer? Seriously, Rossi?” She quirked an eyebrow at him, in which Rossi smiled back sheepishly for asking.</p><p>“So are we starting to practice some of the formations now?” Hotch asked.</p><p>Looking at the extensive notes in her hand, JJ said, “Nope, we might do a fun game later, but not the official positions for the next match.”</p><p>Glancing at each other when JJ didn’t elaborate any further, Hotch asked, “Why? Wouldn’t they do better at the game if they go through the formations more?”</p><p>Finally looking at them straight in the eyes, she said, “Practicing doesn’t always make everything perfect, a lot of the times what works for an individual plays more of a role than the hours put into it. And these little games actually give me an idea which position each child would play better in. And if they play better, they would have better confidence as well as enjoy playing it more.” And promptly left the two men standing there staring at her as she went to gather up the children again.</p><p>“Uhh... What just happened?” Hotch turned to Rossi and asked.</p><p>“I think she just schooled you on how to raise your kid?” Rossi smirked at him then proceed to follow JJ towards the sidelines where she had just gathered the children around. Hotch followed him with a shake of his head, laughing to himself.</p>
<hr/><p>“So, was that fun guys?” Getting a chorus of ‘yes!’, JJ smiled at them and continued, “Great! We’ll do a new game next, let’s gather around in a circle, and spread out a little bit.” They did that, with some of the kids needing some guidance from Hotch or Rossi, “and this little game is called ‘numbers ball’! Now we’ll go around the circle and everyone is assigned a number, I’ll start. I’m One, now the one to my left, Jack, what’s your number?”</p><p>“Two!”</p><p>“Hayden?”</p><p>“Three?”</p><p>“Prefect!” Then everyone took their turn to announce their numbers, “Now, does everybody remember their own number?” Seeing various nods around the circle, she started to explain, “So, the way that this game works is that there will be a person with the soccer ball in front of them, and they will call out a number from the group, kick the ball to that person, and the other person will have to try and catch it, then call out another number for the next person to catch it. Everyone following so far?” Everybody nodded, “Okay, so how about we have a trial game first?”</p><p>“Yes!!!” Laughing at their enthusiasm, she dribbled a ball in front of her and shouted “Ten!” which is Hotch’s number, and kicked it in his direction, which he caught pretty easily. The game continued on and soon everyone has had at least one turn.</p><p>“Alright! How about we stop for now.” A couple of the kids started to protest, but JJ held up her hand to quiet them down, “We can play this game again next week if all of you are good. Now, to finish off today’s practice, we are going to have a little match. Separate yourselves into 2 groups, and then we can start to play!” JJ was a little surprised but nonetheless glad that separating into groups wasn’t a fuss at all, in fact, the team dynamics between the kids were rather great, they didn’t mind being on either team, which would help them play more cohesively as a team in the long run.</p><p>As soon as the kids got separated into two teams, and the goals were set up on both sides of the field, the game started. JJ kept note of the players on the teams and how they interacted with one another, adding it to her long list of notes on the kids. Hotch, Rossi and a still hyperactive Henry were cheering on the kids, they were curious as to how the kids could still have so much energy, whereas before the kids would be partly tired from the drills in the session. Hotch and Rossi occasionally stealing glances at the blonde, curious as to what she is doing again.</p><p>When it was time for the practice session to come to an end, JJ called for the kids to gather around her, Hotch and Rossi. “Did everyone have fun today?” And when everyone cheered, even Hotch couldn’t stop himself from smiling, “That’s great! Well, we can continue this next week if you guys like it so much. Does anyone have any questions?”</p><p>A couple of hands raised up tentatively, and JJ sent an encouraging look to one of the kids, “Will you be with us next week too?” He asked shyly, while a couple of kids nodded and looked up at her.</p><p>JJ beamed, even if she wasn’t planning on coming next week, she couldn’t possibly turn down that many cute puppy faces, “Of course!” And the kids erupted into cheers. After everyone quieted down again, JJ released them and they ran to their awaiting parents, excited to tell them about their practice. JJ turned to Hotch and Rossi, “So… what do you guys think?” Suddenly, she looked almost shy, the adrenaline of prepping for this session is finally starting to wear off.</p><p>“Well, I’ve never seen them finish practice with that much energy, that’s for sure.” Rossi commented.</p><p>“Yea, that was great, JJ. They loved you.” Hotch smiled at his liaison-turned-profiler.</p><p>“Thanks, I’m glad they loved it. I didn’t realise how much I missed it until now, you know?” She mumbled uncharacteristically as she went to pick up the equipment, dribbling the ball left on the sidelines at the same time. Hotch and Rossi glanced at each other before helping her the pick up the other equipment around the field.</p><p>When they finished packing up, Hotch proposed, “Hey, how about we go out for lunch together?” Smiling at where Jack and Henry are talking animatedly.</p><p>“Sure, Will’s on shift anyways.” JJ replied as she turned to the boys, “Hey boys, what do you say we all go out for lunch together?”</p><p>Two sets of eyes turned wide and stared at her, surprised. But after a second JJ found herself being tackled by the two boys, shouting “Yes!!” over and over again. Hotch and Rossi laughed at the scene before them. The 5 of them walked together towards the parking lot, agreeing to meet at a local diner that both boys liked.</p><p>It was a successful first practice, to say the least. And JJ firmly believed the small soccer team is on the right track for the game coming up soon.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As the five of them headed to the local diner where they agreed to meet, JJ glanced at Henry in the rearview mirror, who was chattering away happily about how he loved playing soccer with Jack and his new friends.</p><p>“So do you want to come with mommy again next week?” JJ asked him as soon as the little boy stopped to catch a breath.</p><p>Henry gave her a gigantic smile and said, “Really?” When JJ nodded, he almost screamed “Yes!!” Then with a lower voice, “I want to come every week, mommy.”</p><p>“Well, we have to talk to Uncle Hotch and Uncle Rossi about that first, baby. Okay?” She responded her as she turned the car into the diner parking lot.</p><p>“Okay.”</p><hr/><p>Arriving at the local diner, the group headed to a slightly larger booth. Jack and Henry sat together talking about superhero movies, leaving the three profilers to talk.</p><p>“So, do you have a plan for next week?” Hotch asked, looking at JJ.</p><p>“I have a general idea, but nothing’s been finalised yet, we literally just finished practice.” JJ said.</p><p>“Can you tell us what you have for now?” Rossi dragged out once it was clear JJ wasn’t going to elaborate on her already extensive notes.</p><p>“Nope, you’ll find out next week. The same time with the boys.” She smirked at them.</p><p>“What? But we’re the coaches too, don’t you think we should know what we’re doing before we’re doing it with the boys?” Rossi, who cannot stand not knowing something, tried to argue with JJ.</p><p>“Nope, it worked this morning, so why mess with success? Plus, I like keeping you guys on your toes.” She answered them smugly.</p><p>“But… this morning… Henry knew about the games when we didn’t even know!” Rossi gave another attempt to make JJ tell them.</p><p>At his name, Henry broke out of his own conversation and said “Mommy and I play them all the time!” Then immediately went back to talking about superheroes with Jack.</p><p>“That, and also I needed an assistant to demonstrate to the other boys.” Putting her ‘duh’ face on.</p><p>Their conversation was cut short when the food finally arrived, and they transitioned into casual topics, with Rossi and Hotch trying once in a while to coerce her into telling them her plans, but JJ was having none of it, easily redirecting the men back to the topics she wants to discuss. They feel like she was putting her former press liaison skills to use, and even though they loved it when she did that to the press before, they hated being on the other end of her skills this time. Well, at least now they know what the media felt like whenever she did a press conference.</p><p>Soon enough, the 5 of them finished their meal and bid their goodbyes to each other.</p><hr/><p>Monday morning came and when Hotch walked through the bullpen area on his way to the office, he noticed that JJ was already at her desk, huddled over something on her desk, presumably a case consult. Now JJ is always early to work, but 2 hours earlier than required is too much of a stretch, even for her. In fact, if it wasn’t because of an urgent budget report, he wouldn’t even be there this early in the morning too.</p><p>“Morning JJ, what are you doing here so early?” When she didn’t give any indication that she heard him, he walked closer to her, “Everything… okay?” Still no response. He leaned over her shoulder to take a peek at what she is so focused on, and a grin appeared on his face.</p><p>He contemplated whether to stay spying on her obvious soccer notes, but soon realised that similar to her old office, there is no way he will understand the mess she had on the notepad. So, he tapped on her shoulder, in which she jumped up in surprise, letting out a small shriek. He smirked slightly at her reaction, resulting a glare thrown his way. “Never. Ever. Scare me like that, Hotch.”</p><p>“Okay…” He put his hands up in surrender, “Soccer notes?” Gesturing at the mess she would definitely insist on ‘having a system’, like her old office.</p><p>She let out a sheepish chuckle, “Uh yea, I needed some quiet time to work out some kinks, and I finished the case consults that are due today, so I uh… came in early to use the office before people start coming in…”</p><p>“JJ, it’s alright. You’re not on the clock yet anyways. Plus, I know you always finish the consults way before the deadlines.” He reassured her.</p><p>She gave a small sigh of relief, “Oh, uh, thanks. Wait, why are you here so early?”</p><p>He groaned, “Strauss wanted an urgent budget report.”</p><p>“Oh ouch. Good luck with that.” She replied sympathetically.</p><p>“Yea thanks, I’ll leave you to your soccer madness.” He sniggered at her messy notes.</p><p>She gave a witty retort to his playful judgemental gaze, “Madness is what gets you to the top, Hotch.”</p><p>Sharing another laugh together, they went about their own tasks.</p><hr/><p>As the other agents began to trickle into the bullpen, the BAU team is again called away on a case, leaving the weekend talk to a minimum as they tackle the case at hand first. Finally closing the case on Friday evening, the team hurriedly got on the plane, in desperate need of the comfort of their own bed.</p><p>Since none of the 3 participants mentioned anything about what happened last Saturday, and profilers are a bit of a nosy bunch, Morgan decided to bite the bullet and ask Hotch and Rossi about it when JJ went to grab a coffee on the plane ride back from their latest case, “So how was the soccer practice on Saturday?”</p><p>“It was good! If you ignore JJ’s need to wake me at ungodly hours.” Rossi answered him, causing everyone to laugh.</p><p>“How early did JJ drag you two to the field?” Emily asked, amused.</p><p>“She came by my house and woke me up at 6 and called Rossi non-stop until he showed up shortly after.” Hotch answered.</p><p>“Humph, that is not early. When she was at the State Department and whenever we decided to workout together, she kept insisting we meet at 5am sharp, I swear it’s like that woman never sleeps.” Morgan huffed out.</p><p>“Well, JJ is a coffee addict, so maybe she doesn’t need the sleep with all the caffeine she has in her.” Emily proposed.</p><p>JJ walked back to the group, “You know me so well, Emily.” And the girls high-fived each other.</p><p>“So what did you do to their old method?” Emily asked.</p><p>“Completely changed it. They thought running formations repeatedly would increase the chances of winning.” JJ waved her hands, dismissing it entirely.</p><p>“Actually, statistically speaking, running scenarios repeatedly, whether physically or mentally, helps individuals familiarise with the environment and movement, especially with young children. Which could then increase the chance of the group working better together.” Reid piped up.</p><p>Rossi saw the opportunity and quickly defended his Italian formation charts they’ve been using before, “Exactly! See? Repetition helps, maybe the kids just needs more run-throughs.”</p><p>“Yes Rossi, I do know that repetition works well, but until we match each child to the position they would excel at, repetition wouldn’t help so much.” JJ retorted easily.</p><p>“Yea, and a child needs to feel that they are doing great, not just through receiving encouragement from others, but also from themselves. And having them repeat the same thing over and over again would actually do more harm than good, unless it’s what suits them and they want it that way.” Emily joined in, where the girls shared another high-five at how much they think alike.</p><p>Taking a sip of her coffee, she added, “Plus they are kids, their preferences change all the time.”</p><p>“You did say the games you gave them on Saturday gave you an idea on which positions they could play in.” Hotch nodded to JJ, which she nodded in response.</p><p>“Wait, so you guys just played games the entire practice last Saturday?” Derek questioned, still not getting the whole ‘variety’ thing, coming from someone who doesn’t get bored doing 1000 sit-ups a day.</p><p>“Um, more like activities. We did an obstacle course, a game of ‘number ball’ and they played a match with each other.” JJ explained.</p><p>“Well it certainly sounds like the kids had fun.” Emily said.</p><p>“They did.” Hotch replied.</p><p>“This kind of makes me wish that PE teachers would try that sometimes. Back in high school, I just remember PE lessons being all about drills. Bore the hell out of me.” Emily said as she thought back.</p><p>JJ nodded, “Tell me about it, my middle school soccer coach was all about repetition, and even though I liked the sport back then, I wished it wasn’t always the same boring routine.”</p><p>“What about you, Reid?” Morgan asked.</p><p>Reid frowned, “My experiences with physical training has always been enough diversity for me, I always find new ways to fall on my face, get hit with the ball etc. So, variation on the activities will just give me more opportunities to invent new ways to humiliate myself.”</p><p>“Sorry man.” Morgan apologised regretfully.</p><p>Reid waved him off, “Nah, it’s okay. It was a long time ago, plus I always knew physical stuff isn’t for me. And I’ll admit I am a bit old-fashioned, I don’t like change or variations.”</p><p>At that, the team shared a laugh together.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A/N: There are some soccer references in this chapter, and I tried my best to understand and research a lot, but I have never played soccer in my life (only in gym class, which we all know doesn't do much, XD), I apologise in advance if there are any inaccuracies.</p><hr/><p>Another week passed, and luckily their case this week ended very late into Friday night. So when Saturday came, the 3 profilers were still able to go to the soccer practice. Hotch and Rossi, half expecting JJ to sleep in a little later since their case ended so late the previous night, decided to play dumb and not get to the field at 6 o’ clock like the previous Saturday unless she forced them to. But, their experience also taught them to expect JJ to get up at ungodly hours, especially with something so important to her such as soccer. So when their phones rang, they were already half-awake, kind of anticipating her to wake them up this early, but still praying otherwise.</p><p>“Hotchner.” “Rossi.” They answered simultaneously in their respective homes. </p><p>“Hey Hotch. Hey Rossi. I’m going to be at the field in 15 minutes. See you there! Bye!” The line went dead before either of them had a chance to answer.</p><p>The two scrambled up from their beds and hastily got ready to head to the field, to prevent another almost-blowup like last Saturday. But even as they tried to hurry there, she still beat them to it. </p><p>Letting Jack go out in the field where Henry was dribbling a ball by himself, Hotch and Rossi joined JJ by the sidelines where she is shifting through stacks of papers.</p><p>“Hey Hotch. Hey Rossi. So I want to go over what I have planned for today.” She started as they neared the sidelines, “Now I think we can do a game of ‘numbers ball’ for warm up, since I kind of promised the kids last week we would do it again. And I also have the positions that each kid could excel at, right here.” Where she handed them each a copy of her notes, just like she used to do with the case files back when she was the communications liaison. “I have the top 3 positions for them based on how they performed last week, so it has a bit of variety and they can change positions later in the season, depending on how they like the position and how well they work together.”</p><p>Hotch and Rossi grabbed the notepad JJ handed them, and skimmed through the notes, “Wow, this is extremely thorough.” Rossi commented.</p><p>“Oh, that is not the whole thing, just some basics I complied that I thought you two should know.” JJ quickly explained.</p><p>The both looked to her as if she’d grown another head, “This is <em>not</em> the whole thing?” Rossi questioned while Hotch asked, “There’s <em>more</em> to it?”</p><p>Now it is her turn to look at them like they’ve grown another head, “Absolutely! That is only 5 pages!”</p><p>“5… pages…” Rossi spluttered, thinking of a way to explain to her why <em>5 pages</em> would already be <em>too long.</em></p><p>Shaking his head, Hotch interrupted before either of them could start, “Why don’t we start setting things up?” </p><p>“Oh, there’s no need for that, we’ll be going through with their positions today. It’s also why I decided to use the ‘numbers ball’ game, so we don’t have to set up.”</p><p>“Okay then… What are we doing after the warmup game?”</p><p>“Oh yea, nearly forgot. So I was thinking that we could split the team into 2 groups today, the offence and the defence, you guys decide which group you want to coach. I also have here,” where she turned around and picked up another 2 stapled stack of paper, “the guide to each group, in case you need them.” </p><p>She hold out both stacks to them and kept crossing and uncrossing her hands, prompting them to decide who to coach which group, until Hotch spoke, “I’ll coach the offence.” And took the right stack from her. “And what are you going to do?”</p><p>“I’ll be talking/coaching them individually or in twos on their positions. Do they know much about the responsibilities of each position?” Met with blank stares, she quirked and eyebrow, “You guys don’t know what I’m talking about?” Again met with no response, she asked, “I thought you guys had Rossi’s Italian soccer formations thing?”</p><p>“Yea, but we just use them as a guide for how to place them as a group, and the kids don’t have a specific position.” Hotch answered her.</p><p>“Oh. My. God. You did not just say that.” She stared at them with disbelief. “How did you guys manage to coach this long without… You know what, I don’t want to know.” She put her head in her hands and took a deep breath, “Okay. You guys go through the notes for your coaching group quickly, since you’ll need that for the practice first, and if you are unsure of anything, shout for me. I’ll be with the boys.” And she promptly left the two men to join Jack and Henry in the field.</p><p>“I had no idea there could be so much planning and written stuff about soccer.” Hotch commented.</p><p>“Me neither. But these are actually pretty decent notes.” Rossi mumbled, and continued after a while, “I have to admit though, although JJ’s taking this coaching thing way too seriously, she hasn’t been competitive in front of the kids, she seemed pretty chill with them last week.”</p><p>“She did, but I don’t know about the game though.” Hotch smirked at him.</p><p>Rossi sighed, “Yep, we’ll see.”</p><hr/><p>Soon, the kids began to arrive at the field, and some of the early ones joined in the little game with JJ, Jack and Henry. Hotch and Rossi called for them to gather and the kids set themselves in front of the 3 profilers, waiting for their instructions.</p><p>Hotch started, “Today, we are going to be starting with the game we played last time. Does anybody remember it?” He was surprised when everyone either nodded or shouted ‘Yes!’, “Then great! Let’s play!”</p><p>They got into a circle to play the game again, and after 10 minutes, the adults decided it was time to get down to business. So they called the kids to gather again, where Hotch explained, “We are going to be separated into 2 groups, one group will be with me, and the other group will be with Coach Rossi. JJ will be walking around and be with you guys in sections, okay?”</p><p>Met with several nods, Rossi continued, “Now if you name is called, come with me. Hayden, James, Liam and Noah.”</p><p>Hotch raised his hand, “Okay, in my group is Lucas, William, Jack, Ethan and Logan.”</p><p>“And Oliver and Ben is with me!” JJ said with enthusiasm as she opens her arms as the twins on the team jumped up and ran towards her.</p><p>As the group separated, Rossi’s headed to one side of the field, Hotch’s to the other side, JJ held Oliver and Ben’s hands and guided them towards the sidelines. When they approached, she started, “Do you guys know that soccer has different positions that are special to each player?” They shook their heads, “Well they do, and each position is very important. Like a special superpower that belongs to them, so they could help the team with the mission.” She explained with a hushed tone and gestures, as if this was a secret.</p><p>“Like how spider-man has web-shooters and superman have strength, but they both fight bad guys?” Oliver asked.</p><p>“Yes! Exactly! Give me a high-five!” They high-fived, and she continued, “Now you two, are what we call ‘defensive midfielders’,” she took out a board with 2 red and 9 green magnets on it. “You guys are the red ones here,” pointing at the 2 red ones close to the middle of the field, “And your special power is to going between helping these two,” pointing at the 2 green magnets closer to their goal, “who are Noah and Hayden, so that when the other team come with the soccer ball and tries to score, you guys block them. Okay?” They nodded, paying extreme close attention to what she is saying, “But on top of that, you also have to be on the lookout to pass the ball to the attacking team, who are Lucas, William, Jack, Ethan, so they can score the goal. Especially when you helped stop the ball from the other team, alright?” Another nod, “Remember, you job is very important, because without you guys, the other team could get past Noah and Hayden and score, or the attacking team won’t have a ball to score with! And I picked you two specifically for this job because you two are very good at working together and changing the ball’s direction.” </p><p>“This is our special mission!” Ben looked sideways to Oliver, where they high-fived, but then Ben frowned, “But how do we do that?”</p><p>“I’ll show you guys!” And with that, JJ grabbed another soccer ball where she helped the boys get familiar with stopping the ball during her attack (which she didn’t go full strength on, obviously), and redirecting the ball from defence to offence, passing her in the process. “That. Was. Awesome! Give me high-fives!” When the boys did that, JJ let them regroup with Rossi’s group, and worked with the next kid(s) on the team.</p><hr/><p>On one side of the field, Hotch was directing his group with an attack strategy. Similar to JJ, he explained the attack tactics to the kids and answered their questions first, before demonstrating and allowing the kids to move around to familiarise with the plan.</p><p>On the other side of the field, Rossi is working in a similar fashion to Hotch, except for the defensive strategy.</p><p>The rest of the practice that day went by like that, and each child got the individual attention that they needed, which is especially essential with a large group like this. JJ was fairly surprised at the level of focus these kids have, that shows that these kids love playing soccer, and the individual attention to each position really payed off on letting the kids know how important each of them are to the team.</p><p>Finally when the practice is over, JJ called the kids to gather once again, and started “Now I know today wasn’t the most fun, but you have all been given a special power today, and it is very important that your special power, okay?” Met with proud but secretive glances towards each other, she smiled and continued, “Coach Hotch and Rossi are now handing each of you a booklet, and if you forget something about your special power, or if you want to know more about your special power, you can look in the booklet to find out. If you don’t understand something in the booklet, don’t worry about it, ask your parents, or you can wait next week to ask one of us, alright?” Nodding at that, JJ dismissed the kids for the day.</p><p>“Booklets for each position?” Hotch raised an eyebrow at her.</p><p>“What? I’m full of surprises.” With a smirk, she bid goodbye to the other two, gathered her stuff with Henry and headed to the parking lot.</p><p>“Dad! That. Was. Awesome.” Jack said to Hotch as he jogged over, “Aunt JJ said I have a very important position to play, and my job as a striker is to score goals. She says that’s because my aim is very good and can move very fast! I can’t wait to see what I can do with my special power!” </p><p>Hotch smiled, seems like the practice wasn’t as boring to the kids as they thought it would. “Glad you had fun, buddy.”</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The week went by just as fast as the last one, and surprisingly, the 3 profilers are able to go to another practice without having to be called away on an urgent case. The 3 of them plus Jack and Henry again arrived at the field much earlier than the rest of the team, and while the two boys catch up, the adults talked about their final practice before the next game.</p><p>“So we have the boys in position, they seem pretty excited about having their own missions last week, hopefully that won’t change, at least for a while.” JJ started.</p><p>Hotch smiled at her, “Oh you have nothing to worry about. All week long, Jack has been talking non-stop about what his job is and how he’s been trying some of the tips in the booklet etc.”</p><p>“Oh… yea, I added some tips and tricks to their positions so if they got bored, they could at least play around for a while.” JJ responded with a sheepish smile, “So I’m thinking today we let them work as a team, to prepare for next week.”</p><p>“Great! Maybe they can play agains the 3 of us plus Henry, that way we can also see the team in action.” Rossi proposed.</p><p>“Look at you, picking up coaching strategies.” JJ stared at him with a twinkle in her eyes.</p><p>“What can I say? I’m Italian.” Rossi responded which made all 3 of them chuckle.</p><hr/><p>As the kids start to arrive for their last practice before the next game, the 3 profilers gathered them together once more. “Hello everyone, today will be our last practice before our big game next week, so we will just go over the stuff we learned last week and play a match together. How does that sound?” The kids turned to each other excitedly, “Now does everybody remember their special power?” Met with variations of nods, she continued, “And what do our special power help the team do?”</p><p>“Score!!” They chorused.</p><p>Chuckling, JJ continued “Yes. Today, you guys will be playing me, Coach Rossi, Coach Hotch and Henry,” At this, Henry gave a little wave, “Remember you guys have to remember to use your special powers and work as a team! Alright?”</p><p>Jumping up, the kids yelled, “Yes!”</p><p>“Great! Now let’s get started!” The adults lead the team towards to field, where each of them took a position. With a blow of the whistle from JJ, the game started.</p><hr/><p><em>Man, these boys sure upped their game.</em> Rossi thought as he jogged out out of breath to the outskirts of the field, trying to sneak in to break the team’s formation.</p><p>“Lucas! Here!” He faintly heard Ethan (the left winger) shout, and surely, there was an opening that the 3 profilers did not cover, and he watched helplessly as the Lucas passed the ball to Ethan, where he scored a goal despite Hotch trying to run back to the goal to block the shot.</p><p>The 3 profilers plus Henry were trailing the kids’ team by 2 points before JJ decided to stop for a moment. <em>Damn, we seriously underestimated these kids.</em> Rossi thought as JJ blow the whistle, signalling a pause in their game, and gathered the kids together.</p><p>“Okay, that was really great guys. We will take a 5 minute break now, and then we could continue this game, or do run-throughs if you guys want.”</p><p>“Continue the game!” One boy, Logan, shouted, while the others nodded their heads in agreement.</p><p>“Okay then, we will continue after the break. Have a sip of water.” JJ joined Rossi and Hotch at the benches as they too tried to take a breath and drink some water.</p><p>“These kids are so energetic. I think I have ran more today than I have done in the past 3 months.” Rossi said as he lied down flat on the bench and closed his eyes for a moment.</p><p>“Old age finally catching up to you?” Hotch teased as he wiped off some of his sweat with his towel.</p><p>Rossi immediately sat up and threw a glare at Hotch, daring him, “Say. That. Again. Aaron.”</p><p>“Maybe you should just workout more.” JJ piped up.</p><p>“No thanks. I’d rather stay home, smoke a cuban cigar, and enjoy a nice glass of scotch.” Rossi responded.</p><p>JJ looked at him, confused, “How did you get cleared for the field then?”</p><p>Rossi waved her off, “It’s nice to know people in high places, plus our case hours qualifies for our physical fitness requirements.”</p><p>“Wait, so I didn’t have to take those tests every year?” JJ turned to look at Hotch.</p><p>Hotch shake his head, amused, “No, BAU is too busy for those tests.”</p><p>JJ close her eyes and let out a sigh, deciding to look at it positively, “Oh well, at least it is something to push me to workout more.”</p><p>“You would workout even if you don’t have to take the test.” Rossi pointed out.</p><p>Chuckling, she replied, “True. But this way, I get to know how many personal and FBI records I can break.”</p><p>Shaking his head in disbelief, Rossi said, “I swear, your competitive nature is just as bad as Morgan’s need to show off his body to the ladies.”</p><p>“Rossi! You take that back!” When she was only met with smirks in response from the 2 men, she pouted, “I’m not <em>that</em> competitive.”</p><p>“Really? Because I can count on one hand how many times you actually backed down from a challenge or an opportunity to compete with someone.” Rossi retorted.</p><p>“I just happen to like them and I can’t stop myself!” She defended herself.</p><p>“And that exactly shows that you are really <em>that</em> competitive.” Hotch added in.</p><p>She pouted again. “Fine. I am.”</p><p>“And we love you that way, kiddo.” Rossi amended, patting on her head as a reassuring matter, where he is met with a glare that made him retract his hand quickly.</p><p>Laughing at their banter, Hotch looked at his watch and decided it’s time to carry on the game, so he called the kids to gather once again, where JJ blow the whistle to signal the restart of their game.</p><hr/><p>Towards the end of the practice, the adults were still trailing the team, but has brought the score up to 3-2. They huffed out, starting to get a little tired as they tried to keep up with the kids’ boundless energy. JJ was currently dribbling the ball, Hotch and Rossi where both blocked by 3 kids each, and she could see the rest of the team starting to close in on her.</p><p>“Mommy, pass here!” Henry jumped up and shouted over at the other far end of the field. JJ located her sonalmost the whole field away from her, so she recalled her previous soccer days and kicked the ball towards Henry. With her accuracy, the ball passed through every kid on the team who tried to stop or block the ball from going to Henry, where he quickly caught it and easily scored it through the goal.</p><p>The kids turned around to stare at JJ for a moment, amazed at how she got the ball to pass through every, single, one of them, then turned around to stare at Henry, who was smiling proudly at them.</p><p>JJ and Henry laughed at their reactions, breaking them out of their transience, before being tackled by the kids on the team. Chuckling softly, Hotch and Rossi walked to the group and gently pried the kids from mother and son. “Alright guys, let JJ and Henry breath.”</p><p>The kids slowly stand back up before excitedly asking, “How did you do it?”, followed by several cries fo pleas.</p><p>JJ held up a hand to quiet them down before answering, “Practice. But you guys are already super amazing, you are still smashing us!”</p><p>The kids looked at each other proudly, distracted by her compliment for a split second before Liam spoke up, “But we want to know how to do <em>that</em>.”</p><p>“Honestly guys, you don’t need <em>that</em> to be amazing.” The kids started to protest at that, in which JJ held up her hand once again, before continuing, “But, if you guys really want to know, I will teach you guys if you work together as a team next Saturday at the game.”</p><p>Grumblings were heard in response as the kids realised they wouldn’t learn that <em>today</em>, but Rossi piped up to lighten the mood, “Think of it as a post-game celebration.”</p><p>Jack turned to huddle up with his teammates and said, eyes blazing with determination, “We will work together as a team next Saturday, and then JJ will have no choice but to teach us that.” The other kids at each other and nodded determinedly.</p><p>The 3 profilers stood at the side, looking at the kids huddled together, proud of how the team has come together in a short amount of time.</p><p>Next week will determine if their plan has succeeded. But they know that their hard work has already paid off.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A/N: Like Chapter 4, there are some soccer references in this chapter, and I tried and researched a lot, but reading about a sport can only do so much to actually understanding the sport, so forgive me if there are any inaccuracies in this chapter.</p><hr/><p>This is the moment they have all been waiting for. The day of the game.</p><p>The entire BAU team, minus the 3 coaches, sat in the bleachers as they cheered on Jack’s team, they are all anxiously waiting, both for the result of the game as well as JJ’s reaction. They cannot wait to see how JJ would act for this game. From all their past experiences, they would say JJ would be down right competitive, trash-talking, coming out guns-all-blazing. But from what Hotch and Rossi told them, JJ was not at all hardcore on the kids to win, in fact, she never mentioned anything about winning to the kids.</p><p>The soccer team gathered together around JJ, Hotch and Rossi, listening intently on their pre-game pep talk. “Okay boys, remember what are we going to do today?”</p><p>“Use our super powers!” They chorused.</p><p>“And?” JJ prompted.</p><p>“Work together!” They said simultaneously. </p><p>“That’s right! But most importantly, remember to have fun!” JJ reminded them.</p><p>“Yea!” They shouted.</p><p>“Exactly, bring it in.” The group huddled together, where Jack took over JJ’s pep-talk.</p><p>“Alright guys, we need to do very good because then JJ will not have an excuse next week to teach us that awesome move she did last week.” Jack started.</p><p>“And we can show Coach Hotch and Rossi what we can really do.” Lucas added.</p><p>“And also make JJ stay.” William piped up.</p><p>“And we can show the other team that we are good.” Ethan pointed out.</p><p>“And prove to everyone that we can win!” Ben pitched in.</p><p>“Yea!” The rest of the team cheered as they bring in the group hug for a moment, before dispersing into the field, where the game is about to start. </p><p>The referee called for the kids to get ready and the blow of the whistle signalled the start of the game.</p><p>JJ stood at the sidelines with a clipboard in hand, her eyes following the soccer ball’s every move. Hotch and Rossi bounced up and down the sidelines, following the kid’s position and occasionally shouting tips at them. </p><hr/><p>Garcia was sitting in the bleachers filming the entire game, just like JJ asked her to, she didn’t know what for or why, but she didn’t question it. Even the gossip queen, which she prided herself to being, would not dare to question JJ’s requests when it came to soccer.</p><p>Henry sat beside her, bouncing with excitement, and occasionally pointing out the boys on the team and telling everyone on the BAU team about how they did in practice compared to here, and of course, the official vocabulary of the soccer moves. Even though everyone around him are watching the same game as him, they didn’t have the heart to stop him from providing them with unnecessary commentary about the game. Plus, the team would rather get shot than to admit this, his commentary actually helped them sometimes to understand what is happening in the field (especially the referee’s signals) as well as how Jack’s team’s tactics.</p><p>Morgan on the other hand was tense throughout the entire game. He didn’t know much about soccer, perfectly content with thinking that football, which he played in college, is the more superior sport, and this is what most of his arguments with JJ comes to, both declaring to the other that their sport is just as hard if not harder. That said, watching the game unfold is getting on his nerves, he is used to being the active one, the one in the field, and watching sport (even if it was <em>soccer</em>) without doing anything with his body is making him antsy.</p><p>Emily cheered when the team scores a goal, she is secretly enjoying Henry’s commentary very much, it helps calms her nerves a little bit. Although a children’s soccer game is not a typical stressful situation for her, admittedly she has gone through much worse, this game has so much riding on it, Hotch admitted to her that if Jack’s team doesn’t win this game, they would not have a chance to advance for the rest of the season, so she is a little anxious watching the game unfold.</p><p>Similarly, although for an entirely different reason, Reid is also enjoying the information about the team’s tactics and strategies that Henry gladly provided him with, He had read up as much as possible before the game, and is now realising that with all the books he read, it doesn’t really help him much in understanding what is actually going on in the field. Sure, he knows the rules and most of the vocabulary that Henry keeps telling him about, but there is only so much you can learn about a sport in books.</p><hr/><p>By halftime of the game, the team is looking good, but they are still trailing the opposing team by 2 points. JJ quickly called for the kids to gather around her at the sidelines, where Hotch and Rossi distributed their water bottles as she started talking. “Alright boys, you all did a great job out there, but I know that you all are capable of doing more. Come on! We need to show the other team that we are here to be the best! You all need to remember what we have been over the last two weeks, but we will have to change our plan a little bit because of the other team’s strategy.” </p><p>The kids look scared for a little moment, and Hotch shot a warning glare at her, but she waved them away, “It’s not a big change, I know you can all do it. Now because the other team really likes to rely on number 9 to score and numbers 7 and 11 usually carries the passes, I need Lucas to mark number 9, James to mark number 7 and Liam to mark number 11, you guys need to make sure that he can’t get to the ball, and if he does, make it hard for him to pass it to anyone else or score. James and Liam, even if they are at their end of the field, follow them, Oliver and Ben will handle the defence then.” She said directly to them, they looked at each other and nodded.</p><p>“I also need Oliver and Ben to double up with Noah and Hayden, make sure that if the other team is coming towards our goal, you do not let them pass, or make it extremely hard for them, block and double up with James, Liam and Lucas if they come.” She said to the twins, they high-fived each other and nodded.</p><p>She turned to the attack trio, “Now I need Jack, Ethan and William to make sure that the other team don’t mark you, if one of you is marked, you make it hard for them, don’t go in a straight line, and pass the ball to someone who isn’t marked as soon as possible. The other team’s defence is not very good, so as long as you have the ball, we are going to be fine.” They nodded.</p><p>She turned back to the team, looking each of them directly in their eyes, “Does everyone know what they need to do?”</p><p>Incoherent sounds of murmurs were heard, sounding unsure, but JJ was having none of it, “Everyone got it?” She said a little louder.</p><p>“Yes!” They chorused and nodded determinedly.</p><p>“Good, now go out, have fun and do your best. You guys got this!” She held up her hand for them to high-five her before they were called out for the second half of the game, where the kids ran back into the field.</p><p>As the kids went into the field, Hotch started, “Do you really need to change what we planned last week in the middle of the game?”</p><p>“Not now, Hotch.” She shushed him without losing focus on the game.</p><p>Sharing a look with Rossi, they both thought the same thing. <em>Oh god, the competitive JJ is starting to take over.</em></p><hr/><p>The first 5 minutes of the second half of the game did not go well for Jack’s team, they would remember their new tactic one moment, and revert to their previous strategy the other. JJ stood at the sidelines frustrated, she thought she was making the right choice to change the tactic mid-game to play to the opposing team’s weakness. But now, she is not too sure.</p><p>Rossi walked over to her as their team looked confused once again in the field, he asked her, “Maybe we should call for a time out? Or back to the strategy we were using?”</p><p>“Soccer doesn’t allow timeouts, Rossi. Plus I already told them the new tactic, if we tell them to go back now, they would be even more confused.” She replied, sounding stressed. She is so used to being the one on the field, it gives her a certain amount of control to steer the game they way she wanted, but being a coach couldn’t do much to the actual game when their players are confused.</p><p>Making her turn away from the game and look into his eyes, he reassured her, “Hey, hey, relax. They just need some time to adjust. But if that still doesn’t change, they still showed that they could manage to hold their own on the field today.” </p><p>“But you two brought me in to coach them to help them <em>win</em>, not to <em>lose</em> again.” She emphasised, looking anywhere but him, afraid to see the disappointment.</p><p>He forced her to look at him once again, and gently said, “They’ve improved tremendously over the last 3 weeks with you as their coach, we’ve never managed to score a single goal this season before you came along.”</p><p>Shocked to hear this, her expression changed dramatically as her eyes blazed. Rossi, sensing a soccer lecture coming his way, quickly said before she had a chance to say anything, “The team is doing well, they just need some time. You and I both know you made the right call.”</p><p>She nodded timidly, “Okay, thanks Rossi.” He gave her a smile and started to walk back to where Hotch was. Before he was out of earshot, she called out, “Oh, and you’re still not off the hook for not telling me that before today!”</p><p>Shaking his head, he turned around and said, “Didn’t expect to.” And they both chuckled as they turned back to the game at hand.</p><hr/><p>As it turned out, Rossi was right. The team just needed some time to get used to the new tactic, and when they did, the team finally started to catch up with their opponents. The two teams were now tied as the time quickly ticked away.</p><p>About 30 seconds away from the end of the game, the opposing team was carrying the ball, heading straight to the goal, closing in on the box, ready to shoot….</p><p>In comes Oliver and Ben, blocking their opponents, the boy with the ball has no choice but to try and pass it off to someone on their team. But Jack’s team is not making it easy for them. Just like JJ asked them to, Lucas, James and Liam were all marking the team’s most active members, so the kid panicked and kicked the ball towards the goal, where Noah and Hayden closed the gap, and swiftly redirected the ball back to Oliver, who passed to Ben, who dribbled the ball for a while, then passed to Ethan, who ran pass mid-field, passed it to William, who closed in on the goal, passed it to Jack, who kicked the ball towards the goal as the whistle blew, signalling the end of the time they had for the game.</p><p>The entire field, players, coaches and parents alike, watched in slow motion as the ball flew towards the goal, the opposing team’s goal keeper jumping up to try and block the score, and…</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Goal!!</p><p>For a moment, the entire field was quiet, shocked about the goal that changed the outcome of the game. </p><p>Then, it erupted into chaos. People watching the game cheered loudly, started fist-bumping into the air, hugging each other, screaming at each other, and even crying. To think that a simple children’s soccer game would have this much emotional impact on them is utterly bizarre.</p><p>On the bleachers, Henry is screaming into Garcia’s camera, “Did you see that? Aunt Penny! Did you see that? Did you film that? That was awesome!!!” Then proceed to run to the other members of the team, repeating the same thing to them. </p><p>Garcia is finding it very hard to keep her camera steady, but the excitement from Jack’s winning goal is overwhelming enough to distract her from messing up the video. She bounced up and down, tears of joy flowing down her cheek, she grabbed Morgan and hugged him several times, kissed Reid on the cheek, hugged Emily, and then proceed to repeat the gestures again and again. The camera in her hand long forgotten as she joined the others in celebrating the victorious goal. She cannot wait to hug those little munchkins and let them know how great they were.</p><p>Emily, although would rather get shot than to admit this, has tears in her eyes. She is so proud of how the boys did. She is the only one, apart from Rossi and Hotch, who knew exactly how much was riding on this game. And she is also the only one who knew how much JJ has put in to helping the boys on the team, often spending whatever free time they had on cases, figuring out her strategy in their hotel room. To see the hard work put in by every one of those involved turn into a positive result is just moving her to the core, because she knows, as evident in the cases that trails are cold, hard work does not always pay off.</p><p>Morgan, finally getting an opportunity to alleviate the antsy nerves he has been feeling the entire game, joined in the cheering crowd. Although it is <em>soccer</em>, and he would never admit this to JJ, he enjoyed the entire game. He is so proud of Jack and his team, he knew exactly what it is like to be an athlete on the field, he went through that himself, and he couldn’t be prouder that the team stuck to it till the very end, fighting to come out on top.</p><p>Reid, although not familiar with any sports occasions, knew that it is times like this, that is exactly what makes them so attractive to the public. “They won!” He let out a shriek, and even forgot his fear of germs for a brief moment and hugged Emily, causing both of them to cry out in happiness. </p><hr/><p>On the field, the boys on the team stood still for a moment, seemingly lost in the moment. But the sound of the crowd going crazy broke them out of their trance, Jack came running to the rest of the team, where they hugged each other, high-fived and hugged each other again. The boys on the opposite team, although slightly dejected that they lost, came over to where Jack’s team was gathered, and congratulated them.</p><p>“That was awesome, you guys are amazing.” Josh, the leader of the other team, spoke, and shook Jack’s hand.</p><p>“Thanks, you guys are really great too!” Jack replied with a smile. </p><p>The rest of the members on both teams followed suit, congratulating and shaking each other’s hands, before running towards the sidelines to tackle their coaches.</p><hr/><p>On the sidelines, Rossi and Hotch hugged and fist bumped each other. They are both so proud of how far the boys have come in the last few weeks. </p><p>“We won! We finally won!” Rossi, uncharacteristically, bounced excitedly as they broke the hug.</p><p>“We get to stay and compete again!” Similarly, Hotch broke into a grin at that.</p><p>JJ, on the other end of the sidelines closer to the goal, witnessed the ball soar through the air and into the net. She is filled with relief and elation at the same time. She is so proud of the boys for holding their own on the field. They have proved to everyone, and most importantly, themselves, that they are a force to be reckoned with. Of course, just like everything, there is always room for improvement, things to work on, to strive for perfection, but for now, this is absolutely perfect. She ran towards the two other profilers, attacking them in the form of a group hug. “We won!” She shouted, eyes misty, starting to get a little emotional, “They were fantastic!” </p><p>“They were. All thanks to you!” Hotch smiled at her.</p><p>JJ wiped a tear, waving him off, “Nah, they had it in them the whole time. Plus you two gave them solid foundations.”</p><p>“It’s a team effort.” Rossi smiled, and they hugged each other again before being attacked by the boys.</p><hr/><p>The BAU team and the parents of the other boys gathered around in the parking lot, all of them waiting for the team and their coaches to exit the field.</p><p>“We won!!!” Henry, who has one hand holding Garcia’s, pumped his other hand into the air and shouted, which everyone responded with a cheer. “Aunt Penny, we need to celebrate!” Putting on his best puppy face, hoping to get his aunt to agree with him.</p><p>She turned and smiled at him, “Of course, my tiny gumdrop.” Then turned to the rest of the crowd, “Let’s celebrate!!” To which the entire crowd cheered again.</p><p>It was at this moment that the team came out, all of the boys running to their respective parents, who congratulated them accordingly. Jack turned and ran towards Henry, shouting on the way, “Henry, did you see what I did?”</p><p>Henry broke free from where he was holding Garcia’s hand, and ran to meet Jack halfway, “Jack!!! You were awesome! I can’t believe you just did that!”</p><p>“I can’t believe it either.” He giggled and they hugged each other.</p><p>The three profilers-coaches walked out calmly behind the kids, but it is quite evident that they are just as excited as the kids. As soon as they came out, the crowed cheered and clapped again, to which Hotch responded, “Let’s go celebrate!! Coach Rossi is buying!!” </p><p>They all headed towards a large diner close by, to which Rossi stuck to what Hotch said and paid for everything. All the boys, including Henry, sat together at one table, laughing and shouting while eating their much deserved pizza. The adults sat on another large table, the parents chatting about everything. The 3 profilers-coaches sat together, already going over some of the tactics for the next game, and nobody dared to disturb them from it. As the food arrived, the 3 profilers-coaches stopped their discussion and focused on the celebration at hand. </p><p>Next week.</p><p>Next week, they would continue to coach the boys.</p><p>Next week, they would prepare for the next match.</p><p>But today, they won! And they are going to enjoy the celebration of this win.</p><hr/><p>A/N: This is the end!! Thank you so much for all of your support! I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did! </p>
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